Iraq expert: ‘We are facing a conflict that has become cyclical’

Just over two years after the Islamic State group seized control of a third of Iraq, are the days of the self-proclaimed caliphate numbered? The Iraqi army, with air power and advisers provided by the US-led coalition, is setting its sights on its biggest battle yet: The drive to recapture Mosul. Peter Harling, a Middle East specialist who lived seven years in Iraq, says that many Iraqis actually fear the defeat of the Islamic State group because they are more wary of the alternative.